Kid-sized, talking Illinois State Police car offers safety messages to youngsters
Kids don’t always listen to adults, but they seem to hang on every word uttered by a child-sized, talking Illinois State Police car named Trooper Cooper.
Maybe it’s Trooper Cooper’s outsized, blinking eyes that grab their attention, or the flashing red-and-blue emergency lights or the cartoon-style voice.
Whatever it is, kids flock to Trooper Cooper to hear what he has to say—which is the whole idea behind the 34-inch-tall, 100-pound talking robotic car unveiled earlier this year by Illinois State Police District 15, which patrols the Illinois Tollway system.
“We thought it would be a great way to reach a younger audience with the safety messages we want to share,” said District 15 Safety Education Officer Duane Chappell. “It’s a new way to interact with younger kids. The feedback so far has been amazing.”
Trooper Cooper made his debut this summer at a safety event in suburban Lake Zurich—and drew a crowd of toddlers and younger children, who gathered around him as he rolled slowly around the event, with Chappell directing his trip using wireless remote control.
Chappell also used a microphone to “speak” as Trooper Cooper, providing short reminders about topics that included staying safe while crossing streets and using playground equipment, the importance of riding in safety or booster seats in vehicles, and avoiding Stranger-Danger situations. His voice was digitally altered to sound similar to a cartoon character and was broadcast from Trooper Cooper’s loudspeaker.
“The kids were fascinated with him, which is the idea,” Chappell said. “This is a different approach than having an adult sit down with the kids to give them a lecture.”
One other feature about Trooper Cooper that kids like? The little police car can shoot a stream of water a few feet to surprise youngsters and keep their attention if they start to lose interest in his safety messages.
“They loved it,” Chappell said, describing how children reacted to the water spray at the Lake Zurich safety event. “The interaction they had with him during the event was just fantastic.”
An ISP video introducing Trooper Cooper—who is decorated with special logos and design features to mark the agency’s 100th anniversary in 2022—includes footage from that event and already has garnered more than 15,000 views on YouTube, already raising public interest in the mini-police car and its message.
Chappell sees more starring roles ahead for Trooper Cooper—he plans to bring his robotic sidekick with him when he attends school safety events or local public safety fairs, as well as the regular Kids Identification and Safety Seat events that ISP hosts annually across the Chicago area every summer.
“It’s another tool in the tool belt that we didn’t have before,” Chappell said. “It’s exciting because this is just a whole different approach we can use.”